The Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments provides the reader with an entry point to the rapidly expanding field of paleoclimatology- the study of climates of the past. The encyclopedia offers informative articles written by well known international experts on numerous subjects, ranging from classical geological evidence to the latest research.

Table of Contents

• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• A
• Aerosol (Mineral) - Ina Tegen
• Albedo Feedbacks - Andrew A. Lacis
• Alkenones - Mark Pagani
• Ancient Cultures and Climate Change - Vivien Gornitz
• Animal Proxies, Invertebrates - Robert R. Gaines and Mary L. Droser
• Animal Proxies - Vertebrates - Thomas H. Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich
• Antarctic Bottom Water and Climate Change - Stan Jacobs
• Antarctic Cold Reversal - Vincent I. Morgan
• Antarctic Glaciation History - Kathy Licht
• Antarctic Sea Ice History, Late Quaternary - Xavier Crosta
• Archean Environments - William H. Peck and John W. Valley
• Arctic Sea Ice - Anne de Vernal
• Arid Climates and Indicators - Andrew Goudie
• Astronomical Theory of Climate Change - André Berger
• Atmospheric Circulation During the Last Glacial Maximum - David Rind
• Atmospheric Evolution, Earth - James Farquhar
• Atmospheric Evolution, Mars - David C. Catling
• Atmospheric Evolution, Venus - Bruce Fegley Jr.
• B
• Banded Iron Formations and the Early Atmosphere - Bruce M. Simonson and Alan J. Kaufman
• Basal Ice - Peter G. Knight
• Beachrock - Ian D. Goodwin
• Beetles as Quaternary and Late Tertiary Climate Indicators - G. Russell Coope
• Beryllium-10 - Jürg Beer
• Binge-Purge Cycles of Ice Sheet Dynamics - Martin J. Siegert
• Bolide Impacts and Climate - Michael R. Rampino
• Bølling-Allerød Interstadial - Wim Z. Hoek
• Borehole Climatology - Hugo Beltrami and Daniela Nitoiu
• C
• Carbon Cycle - Abraham Lerman
• Carbon Dioxide and Methane, Quaternary Variations - Bernhard Stauffer
• Carbon Dioxide, Dissolved (Ocean) - Richard E. Zeebe and Dieter A. Wolf-Gladrow
• Carbon Isotope Variations Over Geologic Time - Ján Veizer
• Carbon Isotopes, Stable - Steven W. Leavitt
• Carbonate Compensation Depth - Torsten Bickert
• Carbonates, Cool Water - Jonathan Clarke
• Carbonates, Warm Water - Dan Bosence
• Cenozoic Climate Change - James D. Wright
• Cirques - Peter G. Knight
• CLAMP - Robert A. Spicer
• CLIMAP - James D. Hays
• Climate Change, Causes - Thomas J. Crowley
• Climate Forcing - Andrew A. Lacis
• Climate Variability and Change, Last 1,000 Years - Michael E. Mann
• Coal Beds, Origin and Climate - C. Blaine Cecil and Sandra G. Neuzil
• Coastal Environments - Robert W. Dalrymple and Kyungsik Choi
• Coccoliths - Jeremy R. Young
• COHMAP - Thompson Webb III
• Continental Sediments - Marc S. Hendrix
• Corals and Coral Reefs - John E. N. Veron
• Cordilleran Ice Sheet - John J. Clague
• Cosmogenic Radionuclides - Jürg Beer
• Cretaceous Warm Climates - Erle G. Kauffman and Claudia C. Johnson
• Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) Boundary Impact, Climate Effects - Elisabetta Pierazzo
• Cryosphere - Philippe Huybrechts
• Cyclic Sedimentation (Cyclothem) - Allen W. Archer
• D
• Dansgaard-Oeschger Cycles - Irene A. Mogensen
• Dating, Amino Acid Geochronology - Gifford H. Miller
• Dating, Biostratigraphic Methods - Peter M. Sadler
• Dating, Dendrochronology - Brendan M. Buckley
• Dating, Fission-Tracks - John I. Garver
• Dating, Luminescence Techniques - Glenn W. Berger
• Dating, Magnetostratigraphy - Wout Krijgsman and C. G. Langereis
• Dating, Radiometric Methods - Chris M. Hall
• Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) - William W. Hay
• Deltaic Sediments, Climate Records - Steven L. Goodbred Jr.
• Dendroclimatology - Brendan M. Buckley
• Desert Varnish as a Paleoclimate Proxy - Ronald I. Dorn
• Deuterium, Deuterium Excess - Gilles Delaygue
• Diamicton - John Menzies
• Diatoms - Amy Leventer
• Dinoflagellates - Anne de Vernal
• Dole Effect - Georg Hoffmann
• Drumlins - Peter G. Knight
• Duricrusts - David J. Nash
• Dust Transport, Quaternary - Karen E. Kohfeld and Ina Tegen
• E
• Early Paleozoic Climates (Cambrian-Devonian) - Arthur J. Boucot
• Earth Laws and Paleoclimatology - Rhodes W. Fairbridge (deceased) and Vivien Gornitz
• Eccentricity - Marie-France Loutre
• Eemian (Sangamonian) Interglacial - Ulrich C. Müller
• Electrical Conductivity - Kendrick Taylor
• Eolian Dust, Marine Sediments - David K. Rea
• Eolian Sediments and Processes - Daniel R. Muhs
• Eolianite - David B. Loope
• Eskers - Peter G. Knight
• Evaporites - Stefano Lugli
• Evolution and Climate Change - David A. T. Harper
• F
• Faint Young Sun Paradox - James Farquhar
• Flood Basalts: Climatic Implications - Andrew D. Saunders
• Foraminifera - Harry J. Dowsett
• G
• Geochemical Proxies (Non-Isotopic) - Matthew J. Higginson
• Glacial Erratics - Patrick M. Colgan
• Glacial Eustasy - Stephen F. Pekar
• Glacial Geomorphology - John Menzies
• Glacial Isostasy - Kurt Lambeck
• Glacial Megalakes - Victor R. Baker
• Glacial Sediments - Douglas I. Benn
• Glaciations, Pre-Quaternary - Emmanuelle Arnaud and I. Peter Martini
• Glaciations, Quaternary - Shawn J. Marshall
• Glaciofluvial Sediments - Douglas I. Benn
• Glaciomarine Sediments - Kathy Licht
• Glendonite/Ikaite - Ian P. Swainson
• “Greenhouse” (Warm) Climates - Darren R. Gröcke
• H
• Heat Transport, Oceanic and Atmospheric - Dan Seidov
• Heinrich Events - Sidney Hemming
• History of Paleoclimatology - Rhodes W. Fairbridge (deceased)
• History of Paleoclimatology - Biographies - Rhodes W. Fairbridge (deceased) and Vivien Gornitz
• Holocene Climates - Neil Roberts
• Holocene Treeline Fluctuations - Mel A. Reasoner and Willy Tinner
• Human Evolution and Climate Change - Gail M. Ashley
• Hypsithermal - Rhodes W. Fairbridge (deceased)
• I
• Ice Cores, Antarctica and Greenland - Dominique Raynaud and Frédéric Parrenin
• Ice Cores, Mountain Glaciers - Lonnie G. Thompson
• “Icehouse” (Cold) Climates - Paul K. Link
• Ice-Rafted Debris (IRD) - Julian A. Dowdeswell
• Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) - Manik Talwani
• Interstadials - Wim Z. Hoek
• Iron and Climate Change - David Archer
• Isotope Fractionation - Dieter A. Wolf-Gladrow and Richard E. Zeebe
• K
• Kames - Peter G. Knight
• Kettles - Peter G. Knight
• L
• Lacustrine Sediments - Bernd Zolitschka and Dirk Enters
• Lake-Level Fluctuations - Mark B. Abbott and Lesleigh Anderson
• Last Glacial Maximum - David Q. Bowen
• Last Glacial Termination - Didier Paillard
• Late Paleozoic Paleoclimates - Anne Raymond and Christopher R. Scotese
• Late Quaternary Megafloods - Victor R. Baker
• Late Quaternary-Holocene Vegetation Modeling - Jed O. Kaplan
• Laterite - Michael Widdowson
• Laurentide Ice Sheet - Arthur S. Dyke
• Little Ice Age - Drew T. Shindell
• Loess Deposits - Konstantin G. Dlussky
• M
• Marine Biogenic Sediments - Wolfgang H. Berger and Gerold Wefer
• Marine Carbon Geochemistry - David Archer
• Marine Clay Minerals - Alastair Ruffell
• Mars: Water and Past Climates - Phillip R. Christensen
• Mass Extinctions: Role of Climate - Garland R. Upchurch Jr.
• Maunder Minimum - Drew T. Shindell
• Medieval Warm Period - Rhodes W. Fairbridge (deceased)
• Mesozoic Climates - Gregory D. Price
• Messinian Salinity Crisis - Stefano Lugli
• Methane Hydrates, Carbon Cycling, and Environmental Change - Gerard R. Dickens and Clayton Forswall
• Mid-Pliocene Warming - Mark A. Chandler
• Millennial Climate Variability - Gerard Bond (deceased)
• Mineral Indicators of Past Climates - Vivien Gornitz
• Monsoons: Pre-Quaternary - Pinxian Wang and Qianyu Li
• Monsoons, Quaternary - Anil K. Gupta
• Moraines - Peter G. Knight
• Mountain Glaciers - Lonnie G. Thompson
• Mountain Uplift and Climate Change - Douglas W. Burbank
• N
• Nearest-Living-Relative Method - Volker Mosbrugger
• Neogene Climates - Carin Andersson
• Nitrogen Isotopes - Julian P. Sachs
• North Atlantic Deep Water and Climate Change - Thomas M. Marchitto Jr.
• North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Records - Heidi M. Cullen
• O
• Obliquity - Marie-France Loutre
• Ocean Anoxic Events - Bradley Sageman
• Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) - Joanne C. Reuss
• Ocean Paleocirculation - Roger Francois
• Ocean Paleoproductivity - Adina Paytan
• Ocean Paleotemperatures - Mara Weinelt
• Organic Geochemical Proxies - Philip A. Meyers
• Ostracodes - Thomas M. Cronin
• Outwash Plains - Peter G. Knight
• Oxygen Isotopes - Gilles Delaygue
• P
• PAGES - Keith Alverson and Christoph Kull
• Paleobotany - Elizabeth A. Kowalski and David L. Dilcher
• Paleocean Modeling - Matthew Huber
• Paleoceanography - Katrin J. Meissner Alvaro Montenegro and Chris Avis
• Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum - Gavin A. Schmidt
• Paleoclimate Modeling, Pre-Quaternary - Christopher J. Poulsen
• Paleoclimate Modeling, Quaternary - Robert J. Oglesby and Kirk A. Maasch
• Paleoclimate Proxies, an Introduction - Vivien Gornitz
• Paleo-El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Records - Michael K. Gagan
• Paleogene Climates - Donald R. Prothero
• Paleohydrology - Françoise Gasse
• Paleolimnology - Philip Barker
• Paleo-Ocean pH - Martin R. Palmer
• Paleo-Precipitation Indicators - Paul A. Baker
• Paleosols, Pre-Quaternary - Steven G. Driese
• Paleosols, Quaternary - Tatiana D. Morozova and Andrei A. Velichko
• Paleotemperatures and Proxy Reconstructions - Thomas M. Cronin
• Paleotempestology, the Sedimentary Record of Intense Hurricanes - Jeffrey P. Donnelly
• Palynology - Margaret Kneller and Sarah Fowell
• Patterned Ground - Matthew R. Bennett
• Periglacial Geomorphology - Brigitte Van Vliet-Lanoë
• Phosphorite - Yehoshua Kolodny
• Phosphorus Cycle - Gabriel M. Filippelli
• Pingos - Matthew R. Bennett
• Plate Tectonics and Climate Change - Robert M. DeConto
• Pleistocene Climates - David Q. Bowen
• Pliocene Climates - Alan M. Haywood
• PMIP - Vivien Gornitz
• Pollen Analysis - Margaret Kneller
• Potassium-Argon/Argon-Argon Dating - Chris M. Hall
• Precession, Climatic - Marie-France Loutre
• Pre-Quaternary Milankovitch Cycles and Climate Variability - Paul E. Olsen and Jessica H. Whiteside
• Proglacial Lacustrine Sediments - Wibjörn Karlén
• Proterozoic Climates - Grant M. Young
• Q
• Quaternary Climate Transitions and Cycles - Mark Maslin
• Quaternary Vegetation Distribution - John Jack W. Williams
• R
• Radiocarbon Dating - R. Ervin Taylor
• Radiolaria - Adolfo Molina-Cruz (deceased) and Kjell R. Bjørklund
• Red Beds - Nathan D. Sheldon
• Roches Moutonnées - Matthew R. Bennett
• S
• Sapropels - Kay-Christian Emeis
• Scandinavian Ice Sheet - Jan Mangerud
• Sea Level Change, Last 250 Million Years - Kenneth G. Miller
• Sea Level Change, Post-Glacial - Vivien Gornitz
• Sea Level Change, Quaternary - John M. Chappell
• Sea Level Indicators - Michael S. Kearney
• Sedimentary Indicators of Climate Change - Joseph P. Smoot
• Snowball Earth Hypothesis - Grant M. Young
• SPECMAP - Franck C. Bassinot
• Speleothems - Yemane Asmerom
• Stable Isotope Analysis - Germán Mora
• Strontium Isotopes - Ján Veizer
• Sulfur Isotopes - Harald Strauss and Ján Veizer
• Sun-Climate Connections - Peter F. Almasi and Gerard Bond (deceased)
• T
• Tephrochronology - Andrew J. Dugmore and Anthony Newton
• The 8,200-Year BP Event - Allegra N. LeGrande
• Thermohaline Circulation - Andrew J. Weaver and Oleg A. Saenko
• Tills and Tillites - Douglas I. Benn
• Time-Series Analysis of Paleoclimate Data - David J. Thomson
• Transfer Functions - Stephen Juggins
• Triassic-Jurassic Climates - Gregory J. Retallack
• U
• Uranium-Series Dating - Yemane Asmerom
• V
• Varved Sediments - Matti Saarnisto and Antti E. K. Ojala
• Volcanic Eruptions and Climate Change - Richard B. Stothers
• W
• Weathering and Climate - Louis A. Derry
• Wisconsinan (Weichselian, Würm) Glaciation - John T. Andrews
• Y
• Younger Dryas - Dorothy M. Peteet
• EARTH HISTORY TABLE